St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1887-08-13
n PEACeMAkER.

THE PEACEMAkER.
D~sseripssoa q the Meet s.eessssul suh
marine . Ever Coassructsd.
The American boat Peacemaker has
however. created the greatest sensation
in the nautical world. Ii ke most Of hel
kind. she is cigar-shaped. with thinned
ends. and when seen floating on thu
surface Of the ocean. somewhat re
sembles . capsized yacht. She 10 thirty
feet long, eight feet beam and seven
feet six inches depth Of hold; and has q
sh~ell-plating s~even-eighths of an inch
thick, well stiffencd. 50 - to Withstand
the greatest probable pressure Of water.
Her e consists Of . helmsman and
IN engineer, who obtain admission into
the hold by q small manhole. which lie
then closed with . closely fitting lid. A
dome projecting from the upper sur
face Of the hull il fitted with glass
windows. to enable the helmsman. who
stands with his head in this raised
space. to make good the course when
the vessel is not submerged. These
feeble parts are protected from injury
by . kind Of crest, which runs fore
and aft. thus giving her the peculiar
appearance to which we have previously
referred. Some sleeves. fashioned from
impermeablc material. are fixed behind
and on each side Of the dome. so that
the helmsman may readily apply the
torpedoes at the most opportune mo-
rent by inserting his hands into the
sleeves. Compressed air is stored up
in tubes fixed to her 'sides; and it is pro-
posed to absorb the carbonic acid and
all other deleterious products Of com
bustion by chemical means. She is lit
up by electricity and propelled by a
steam-engine of fourteen horsepower,
having its boiler surrounded by an iron
jacket. ike n iron pot inside Of an,
other. inclosing between it and the
boiler a saturated solution If caustic
soda, which possesses great heating
power when water-vapor is passed into
it. The funicular railways of America
avail themselves of the same method,
and thus avoid smoke and dirt. In
stead of permitting the seam to escape
into the atmosphere, it is condensed
inside the jacket containing the caus-
tic soda. The latent heat of the
steam is set free by condensa-
ton. and adds itself to the heat
of the dissolution of caustic soda IN
water. This system may be compared
to a boiler in which the caustic soda
the combustible, and the
vapor performs the part Of the oxygen
Of the air which feeds the furnaces.
When it is wished to get under way.
the boiler is first flied with water
heated to the boiling-roint. and the
soda solution is put inside the jacket
At a temperature Of about two hundred
and sixty degrees Fahrenheit. The
result Of . recent trial trip was very
satisfactory. for she is said to have at
lained a velocity of eight miles an
hour when well submerged. and to be
Of retaining this rate Of travel
Tor several hours. Her submersion IL
by filling her ballast-tsnks with
and she is raised by working a
which is movable about . hOrl.
.ontal axle. A pressure-gauge indi-
,ates the depth to which the boat has
and, owing to the position Of
he enter Of gravity. there is no tend
.ncy to turn turtle The torpedoes
ire fastened to her sides. tied each to
he other with a cord. An external
covering Of cork renders them buoy
mt: aud they are furnished with
electromagnetic so that they may
ldhere to the bottom Of the vessel des-
ined for destruction. The arrange
nent is such that when let go from
he Pcacemaker, by the helmsman in
his arms into the before-men-
Toned impermeable sleeves, a continu-
,us current c~irculates.
The results leave little to be desired
o far n they 60; but it would be pre-.
nature to follow the Americans in their
xtravagant praise until further trial,
ave been made under varying cOndi-
ions. Admiral Porter, Of the United
tates navy, is firmly Of the opinion
hat with six such submarine boats he
ould either drive off or sink any hos
lie feet bent on attacking New York.
'rofessor Tuck. the designer Of this
srcastically named boat. says that he
IN construct a full-sized, powerful
lbinarine steamship which shall navi-
ate the waters between Dover and
without causing any Of that NAL
6 mer which renders the passage Of
he ''silver streak" 81 Objectionable to
Indsmen. Probably. pleasure-seekers
Cooks tourists would prefer to suf- 1
r than to risk evils which they know
,t OF. -Mambers' journal I
4 Monster Stone Dam. !.